Three Girls and Their Buddy

Whoah! I am so excited about this concert.
Emmylou Harris. Patty Griffin. Shawn Colvin. Buddy Miller.
My sister Amy is coming in from Boston for the show.
Jan. 24th, Cleveland, OH - Allen Theatre, I'll be there.

Annie, thanks for the Emmylou CD, it's like you knew.

hung

My cousin Jessica sent me this gift she made. I think I found the perfect spot for it to hang - as a reminder to take joy in the process of fixing up this old house, to be patient, and to look past. Thanks Jessica.

"Honey, look what I found on the side of the road."

Yes, today while we were out I spotted this up for grabs. I think that if I cut the top off and add a round top plus a fresh coat of paint, it will be just the coffee table I've been imagining. Time to put some "finishing" back in to these refinishing projects, right? When Dave came home I asked him if he wanted to see what I found on the side of the road. He said sure with a smile and added, "Do you want to see what I found on the side of the road?" The find was a fairly nice pair of wooden folding chairs. All they need is some new paint to make them matching again. Lucky us!

3191 a year of mornings.

I am excited for this book. I'll have to wait a few months though (Fall 2008). If you haven't already, check out this year of mornings blog. Beautiful. They are going to do a year of evenings this year. Isn't that wonderful?

Lovely of the Day 1/3/08

Helmet Hat

Last month, after all the Thanksgiving festivities, I sat down and knit this hat for Malcolm. It only took me two days which I'm pretty proud of because sometimes these things stay on the needles for a long time. It was getting cold out and the little guy needed something so that was very motivating. It also helped that I already had the yarn (from the stash) and the pattern (from one of the Interweave Knits magazines - I don't know where it is now so I couldn't tell you the issue). The idea of this "helmet hat" is that the ear flaps cup the ears without the need of ties under the chin. I must have made it a little too big because it tends to slide around on the little guy's head. This week I plan to add some ties and that should help.
By the way Gymboree sells some awesome bubbles. My friend Sarah let me in on that piece of magic.

bags

I made two more dents in the fabric stash and out came these two Christmas presents for my Amy Jane and my Vera Jane.

Christmas Stocking Update

Merry Christmas.


Stockings were hung with care. But not as was originally envisioned. Months after Malcolm was born I started knitting him a Christmas Stocking. I was doing a random stripe pattern with his name and Christmas trees. I worked on it all the way down to the toe and stopped. Here's the problem, there were parts of the stocking that I liked, but overall it just wasn't turning out like I wanted. The random stripeiness was getting a little too crazy, even for me, and the yarn that was carried over for the lettering was pulled too tight. I don't know how else to explain, but it just wasn't feeling good. I think that as I went along, adding more colors and textures and trees - I was secretly yearning for something simpler in design. So I made the move to put it away - unfinished - waiting to be unraveled and knit into something else. A little sad when it was almost done, but it is never a good sign when you are working on something and you keep having to convince yourself that you are liking the outcome. My pottery teacher once said - "Sometimes you have to scarp it, take it off the wheel, and back to the wedging board." At this point, when it comes to knitting I think that there are other things I'd rather sink my needles into - like witches britches.
So, I made a little peace with my fabric stash, and in one afternoon stockings for the family became a reality. Unfortunately they don't have orange clearance - I should have checked before I cut out all the fabric. But, a favorite candy bar slips in nicely. Santa left me a Twix, Dave an Almond Joy, and Malcolm some "jingle bells" (Hershey Kisses).

pengle.esty.com

So I see my Aunt Paula has been adding beautiful things to her shop. Her pottery is truly amazing. Check it out.

Book Club Reads

One of my favorite things about being human is the energy of sharing ideas. Today ideas are alive in my brain. Thursday night, we did it, a friend of mine (also a Sarah) started Respite: a Book Club. We had our first meeting where we each invited a few people we knew. It was a great turn out - we had 15 people. We ate good food, wore "hello my name is ____" tags, and talked about books! Everyone shared books that they loved or books that they would be interested in reading. We came up with a huge list - so varied and full of life. We only planed out the next 8 months, until we break for summer, but we probably could have planed out the next three years. It was so exciting. We lined up hostesses and book leaders and now instead of it being "Sarah and Sarah's idea of a book club" it is now everyone's book club. The book first up is Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. This is one on my list that I have wanted to read for a long time but have yet to - it's a long list. There is a book sale at the library today, wouldn't that be great if they had a copy for sale? If not, I'll be in the right place to check one out.

Lucky me, this is in addition to the Relief Society Book Club with the women from church. This month we are reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. I'm having a great time with this one. This part had me laughing out loud. The background - Bill Bryson is getting ready to hike the Appalachian Trail and he has been reading a book on bear attacks. "Up to that moment it had not occurred to me that bears might prowl in parties. What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die, of course. Literally sh-- myself lifeless. I would blow my sphincter out my backside like one of those unrolling paper streamers you get at children's parties - I daresay it would give a merry toot - and bleed to a messy death in my sleeping bag."

This leads me to one thing I truly miss in New York - Book Group. Each time I would go I came back home feeling new, fresh, inspired. Some of the best women ever are there reading and sharing.

So here's my challenge to myself. Two books a month. We'll see how it goes. Some may have to be book on tape to past the time in the car or folding laundry.

What's on your reading list?